The Westin Hotel and Residences has already left its mark on London.

Creative Spark finalist at TOPHOTELWORLDTOUR London 2020, Dexter Moren Associates wow with their modern vision for the Westin hotel in one of the city’s historic docks.

The lead designer behind the new Westin Hotel and Residences attended TOPHOTELWORLDTOUR 2020 in London to present their designs as part of the Creative Spark competition.

We take a look at this sophisticated insertion into London’s historic riverfront dock.

The Westin Hotel and Residences

The latest instalment of the now legendary TOPHOTELWORLDTOUR day-long networking event and conference took place on February 6th in the Conrad St. James in London.

Attendees waited with bated breath to hear all about the latest and greatest designs coming out of the UK’s hospitality market.

There were three projects in the running, and one of these was the Westin Hotel and Residences, a sophisticated piece of cohesive architecture that successfully tackles a complex site overlooking the Thames.

It was presented by Ed Murray from Dexter Moren Associates, the lead designer and project architect for this collection of residences and the adjoining hotel.

Facing a challenge head-on

Murray told delegates at TOPHOTELWORLDTOUR London 2020: “When I started work on this project, I knew I enjoyed a challenge, but this really has been the most challenging project of my career.”

By the end of Murray’s presentation, attendees were impressed by the elegant and pragmatic solutions the architects had found to the challenges the project posed.

The Westin Hotel and Residences is a 222-key hotel, which includes 29 suites and nine luxury residences situated on the only remaining Anglo-Saxon dock in the world.

Overlooking the River Thames, the designers had to overcome the challenge of replacing a “collage of tired buildings” with a piece of architecture that would unite the various conditions that include the riverfront, the busy Upper Thames Street, a road below and height restrictions imposed by St. Paul’s Cathedral.

Minimal modernity at the Westin

The Westin Hotel and Residences is the brand’s first UK property, and as such they no doubt were looking to leave their mark on the English capital.

Dexter Moren Associates were on hand to craft a mature and confident hotel, which inserted itself with contemporary class into an historic site, the difficulty of which the architecture makes seem effortless.

DMA channelled Westin’s biophilic design ethos and drew on the natural waterway of the Thames as well as the brand’s core principles of eating, sleeping, moving, feeling, playing and working well in the design.

The result is an exercise in minimal modernity, with the guest rooms, suites and residences executed with timeless elegance in natural materials that undulate and flow through the spaces.

Thoughtful gestures such as creating a new riverside walkway that connects the Chelsea Embankment with the Tower of London means that the hotel can have an impact far beyond its boundaries.

Creative Spark is a hotel design competition that includes three architects/interior designers, and it’s a staple of TOPHOTELWORLDTOUR programming. Shortlisted finalists present their projects, and further discuss their work as part of a stimulating panel discussion, giving valuable insights to the assembled guests about the state of hospitality architecture and design.

For information on how to enter the Creative Spark competition or about upcoming TOPHOTELWORLDTOUR events, get in touch with TOPHOTELPROJECTS Head of Global Events & Conferences Kayley van der Velde.